French automotive giant Renault has commissioned Futurestep, one of Korn Ferry’s business units, to support it with a large scale recruitment drive across the globe. Headhunting for around 300 generalist and specialist roles has already kicked off.

With more than 120,000 employees and 36 manufacturing sites, Renault is one of the globe’s 15 largest car manufacturers (2.8 million vehicles sold in 2015). The company, established in 1899, is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance – the number four player globally – and is led by Carlos Ghosn, a Lebanese-Brazilian businessman.

In a bid to optimise its recruitment efforts, Renault last year struck an alliance with Futurestep – Korn Ferry’s talent acquisition and recruitment solutions business. As part of the deal, Futurestep was tasked with overseeing the recruitment of a large chunck of Renault’s talent need, spanning a variety of roles, from purchasing and engineering to design and manufacturing. The partnership involved positions across the ranks of the automotive giant, from junior to leadership roles.

To deliver the assignment, Futurestep deployed a team of specialised consultants to focus on the project, and together with the HR team of Renault developed a tailored sourcing strategy that includes a range of business principles and HR requirements.

Based on the successful partnership over the past 12 months – the deal according to Renault not only delivered recruits but also reduced the overall time to hire – the manufacturer has decided to extend the partnership into 2016. Valérie Bourassin, Head of Recruitment, Training, and Competencies within Renault’s HR Department for France, explains: “The ability of Futurestep’s teams to deploy a tailor-made strategy in 2015 has led us to renew the partnership. Given our need for quality and responsiveness it is essential for us to rely on a partner who knows the market, the tools and the most appropriate recruitment technologies aligned to our stakes. Futurestep’s flexibility to our mode of operations and its ability to integrate our company’s values and pass them on to candidates were key to the success and extension of our partnership.”

Under the new agreement, Futurestep has been given the mandate to help Renault hire more than 300 professionals out of the 1,000 open roles in the Group by the end of 2016. Besides fulfilling currently open roles, the recruitment advisory firm will also support the automotive player with preparing for future talent needs. The automotive market is set to face major change in the coming years, facing trends including the likes of the growing importance of technology (e.g. connected vehicles / autonomous driving), a rising need to improve emissions and sustainability footprints (Renault is in fact one of the better performers) and capitalise on the potential that sits in captive financing.

As a result, the future skillset demanded by Renault is changing, with Futurestep engaged to provide the automotive player direction into the impact it will have on recruitment strategies and competencies. “Renault is looking for women and men who are dedicated, passionate and ready to meet tomorrow’s technological challenges,” says Bourassin.

Commenting on the alliance, Corinne Roa, Key Accounts Director for Futurestep EMEA, says she is “extremely proud” with the deal, and adds; “Renault has ambitious recruitment objectives for 2016, and as a trusted partner, we will work together to meet these goals.”

In recent months Futurestep bolstered its European operations with six senior appointments in five different markets.